What a waste it is, for the Minnesota Vikings to be completing their regular season, with a rediculous public confrontation between Brett Favre and Brad Childress. Their are reasons to side with both the coach and quarterback in this situation. If Childress wants to protect Favre because Julius Peppers is abusing the Vikings with his domination, as he did in their recent game, then that is a smart thing to do. The Vikings have at least one playoff game to prepare for, so with Favre being 40,and having a very good season, why risk injury ,even with the Vikings being ahead by one point in a game. It’s just not worth losing a quarterback like him to injury, if he’s not being adequately protected by his linemen. It is surprising that Favre doesn’t understand that, or at the very least, he doesn’t accept it. If if he vehemently disagrees with the coach, this is the sort of dispute that should remain behind closed doors. What is accomplished by making this more public than it already is ?
I’m not saying that Brett Favre isn’t right in principle ,in terms of wanting to win, and get home field advantage for the playoffs. I’m sure he is also concerned about the decline in the last 5 games of the average yards gained by Adrian Peterson, which of courses reflects on the Vikings front line. Brad Childress shouldn’t be surprised that Favre is outspoken , or in a football sense, is both a gunslinger and a bit of a rebel who marches to his own drum . Having been around the NFL for a while, Childress would know that. The Vikings coach would also know that Favre drove Mike Holmgren crazy as a young, up and coming star in Green Bay, for these same reasons. Of course, at that stage of his career, Favre wasn’t going to win a confrontation with his coach, and he didn’t. With Brett Favre holding the NFL records for touchdowns, total yards, and interceptions , the Vikings coach should have known what he was getting, when the organization worked so diligently at recruiting the Gulfport, Mississippi native.
Going into this season, not too many football fans were talking about Sidney Rice, the third year wide receiver out of South Carolina . He has become a star, playing with the future Hall Of Famer. Rice has 71 receptions for 1144 yards. His previous high was 396 yards. That would explain everything you need to know about Favre’s impact. He also had a lot of politicking to do when arrived in Minnesota. His procrastination in deciding on playing for the Vikings, alienated the veteran players. The University of Southern Mississippi alumnus, had to win them over after he arrived in the twin cities, and he did that with his revitalized play this season.
This entire drama is really a waste and could ruin what has otherwise been, till recently, an outstanding turnaround for the “Purple People Eaters” as the Vikings were nicknamed several decades ago. The bottom line is that Childress understands that Favre is a still gifted quarterback and gunslinger, who likes to improvise. Similarly, Favre recognizes that just like him, Childress comes from the West Coast offense mind set, so he has to understand that his coach, isn’t going to throw away an entire team concept, to always please one star player. What a shame for the Vikings and their fans, that this battle of egos and wills, has percolated to this level.